A frantic rebuild by the Simpson Motorsport mechanics between final practice and qualifying earned the squad British GT’s PMW Expo Team of the Weekend Award at Oulton Park on Saturday.
A freak incident when Nick Jones ran wide at Cascades saw the Ginetta’s splitter dig into the grass, pulling it along with the front bumper and crash box underneath the car, which then remained stranded until the end of the session.
The G55 finally returned from its excursion on a flatbed with less than three hours remaining until GT4 Am qualifying began. That left Simpson Motorsport in a race against time to repair all of the car’s front end, which included broken suspension parts and damage underneath the engine bay.
Remarkably the work was completed just in time for Jones to contest the second half of the Am session. But after picking up a stone on his out-lap the car was immediately forced back in with a punctured radiator. Once again the team was called into action and completed the repairs in short order.
That allowed co-driver Scott Malvern to take part in the 10-minute Pro segment. And there was clearly no repercussions from the earlier damage when the former Formula Ford champion duly secured a place on the front row for race two with a time just two tenths shy of pole.
The pair’s speed was again evident during Monday’s two races when Jones and Malvern first charged through from last to finish fifth, the latter recording the weekend’s fastest race lap in the process, before a power-steering failure forced the car into retirement with Malvern leading the second encounter.
“The team did a great job putting the car back together, especially considering the small fire that also started when I stopped on the grass,” said Jones. “They couldn’t believe our luck when the stone went through the rad, but sorted it quick as a flash to ensure Scott could compete in his session, which set us up for a brilliant start to the second race.”
Round five of this season’s British GT Championship takes place at Silverstone on June 11/12.